Locations
By: Juan David Martin – Accelerator Lab, Colombia
Since its launch in August 2019, the Accelerator Lab (AccLab) of UNDP in Colombia has been at the forefront of transformative innovation, partnering with local communities to tackle pressing challenges. In a country rich in diversity yet facing significant development hurdles, the UNDP and its AccLab, empowers individuals and organizations to create solutions that drive positive change. By combining global expertise with local insights, we are shaping a brighter future for all Colombians. As part of a global network of Labs operating in over 100 countries, we bring innovative visions, methodologies, and tools to Colombia to address our unique challenges. By adapting these resources to the local context, we aim to implement people-centered experiments and develop scalable prototypes that foster positive change. Our ongoing mission is to innovate and tackle pressing development issues, including resilience-building, early recovery after natural disasters, poverty reduction, and climate adaptation.
The Accelerator Labs Network contributes to global organizational transformation as an integral part of the #NextGenUNDP / #FutureSmartUNDP, initiatives, generating significant local and worldwide impact. Our work goes beyond merely incorporating tools and methodologies; we aim to foster a change in mindset that generates innovative capabilities and skills within our teams, such as digital competencies, the use of new technologies, and understanding communities through their solutions, to name a few. To achieve this, we have sought new knowledge through various tools and technologies—such as drones, 360° cameras, web scraping, and behavioral science—while fostering experimentation and adaptation to local needs and creating training programs and communities of practice.
From crisis to innovation, collective intelligence for resilient responses
The rapid and innovative response capacity of the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Colombia has been demonstrated in several situations, with two key instances to highlight: the arrival of COVID-19 and Hurricane Iota in Providencia Island. In both cases, the response was based on collective intelligence and multidisciplinary collaboration, demonstrating the importance of knowledge and technology transfer to generate innovative, scalable, and high-impact solutions.
The COVID-19 pandemic drove the AccLab to develop an innovative solution to protect the population: "Life Helmet” (Casco de Vida). In less than a week, through collaboration with allies and a collective intelligence process, a prototype for a protective mask was designed and created. This achievement, a result of the joint work and creativity of the AccLab, is an example of its effective response capacity to a critical need.
The second case came after Hurricane Iota passed through Providencia Island in the Caribbean. The AccLab collaborated with UNDP’s crisis team to assess damage to homes and buildings, innovating by using drones and 360° cameras. The speed and efficiency of this assessment enabled experts and organizations to be 'present' in Providencia without being physically there. The use of technology was crucial for resource mobilization and for designing a comprehensive recovery plan.
Going beyond prototypes to scale capacities
The AccLab, with its focus on experimentation and prototyping (“leadership through example”), achieved a significant impact in Providencia using drones and photogrammetry to assess damages. This success demonstrated the potential of technology and motivated other teams to use drones in their projects. To scale this learning, the AccLab designed and implemented the "Drones for Development" program, training and certifying 70 colleagues at UNDP Colombia (selected from over 150 applicants) in two cohorts. This program, developed in partnership with a certified academy and DroneDeploy, not only expanded the office's capabilities but also demonstrated the value of knowledge and technology transfer to promote innovation.
This first prototype course opened a new line of work for the AccLab, aiming to systematically and sustainably incorporate new knowledge and skills in within UNDP Colombia. New courses were designed, not only in drone operation but also to strengthen capacities in various strategic areas:
Digital Fitness Program (with the Chief Digital Office of UNDP, 55 participants – two cohorts)
Blended Finance (with Convergence – The Global Network for Blended Finance, 14 participants)
Behavioral Sciences (with the Andes University , 30 participants)
Data Mining and Web Scraping (22 participants)
Train-the-Trainers (with the Chief Digital Office of UNDP, public speaking and facilitation skills, 20 participants)
Data for Policy (with the Chief Digital Office of UNDP, for government partners, 31 participants)
Solution Mapping (with Honeybee Network, with invited participants from the government, 35 participants)
Empowering talent within UNDP
The AccLab's strategy in Colombia for capacity development has proven to be highly effective. We have implemented a practical, experimental, and participatory learning approach that integrates prototyping and experimentation. This approach has resulted in the development of new mindsets and essential skills to address the complex challenges of development, including systems thinking and design, the ability to learn from mistakes, and collaboration and knowledge sharing, both within UNDP and with external partners.
We have strengthened leadership capacity and talent generation through support and mentoring. From the AccLab, we not only design training programs but also guide and support colleagues in their learning processes by leading communities of practice. We recognize the importance of adapting capacity development efforts to the specific contexts and needs of each region, ensuring the relevance and applicability of the knowledge and skills developed. This holistic approach has trained over 200 colleagues, ensuring the sustainability and scalability of the generated knowledge and skills, significantly contributing to more sustainable development in Colombia.
Solutions mapping, a territorial capacity for sustainable innovation
Solutions mapping, a key methodology of the AccLab, prioritizes local knowledge to understand communities and identify sustainable solutions that can benefit other communities or countries. We recognize that innovation is not solely designed but often already exists within these communities, which possess profound insights into their opportunities, challenges, and needs. For instance, in an early iteration of solution mapping in the northern department of La Guajira, Colombia, students from UniGuajira collaborated with local Venezuelan migrants to identify grassroots innovations. One notable example was a modified cart used as an informal juice stand. This creative solution not only facilitated the transportation of fresh beverages but also exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit and adaptability of the migrant community in addressing local challenges. The exercise unearthed innovative practices while fostering meaningful dialogue between the students and migrants, ultimately transforming perceptions and highlighting the valuable contributions of migrants to the local economy. This experience reinforces the belief that recognizing and leveraging local knowledge can lead to transformative solutions that uplift entire communities.
Solutions mapping as a collaborative process facilitates the identification, discussion, and validation of innovative solutions, sharing knowledge for the common good. It represents a paradigm shift: instead of imposing external solutions, we focus on understanding how communities already address their daily challenges. This “bottom-up” approach, based on empathy and humility, allows us to discover effective and sustainable responses to development challenges.
In Colombia, with over 90 annual projects and a broad territorial presence, we identified the need to expand our knowledge through solutions mapping. We collaborated for six months with the HoneyBee Network to design a 24-hour course (six sessions) taught by Professor Anil Gupta and Professor Anamika Dey. The course focuses on solution identification, incorporating the "three Is" promoted by the HoneyBee Network: Inspirational, Interesting, and Intriguing. We trained 30 colleagues at UNDP Colombia, fostering a shift in mindset towards "grassroots solutions" and promoting an ethical commitment to communities.
Feedback from the course confirmed the importance of a mindset shift: incorporating local knowledge and solutions is fundamental to achieving more effective, profitable, and sustainable projects. The preparatory work of the AccLab was key in integrating this new approach into the country office teams.
The AccLab as a driver of R&D for accelerated development
The AccLab in Colombia has strategically integrated itself within UNDP to drive innovation and capacity generation. Through experimentation and prototyping, we have accelerated the path to development, working closely with programmatic areas. This work has demonstrated recognized value to key colleagues in UNDP Colombia and our allies (donors, government, and the broader ecosystem), contributing to greater strategic participation in relevant initiatives, redefining how we tackle development challenges (favoring the use of prototypes and experiments), exploring new knowledge beyond existing ones, and preventing work in "silos" by integrating our prototypes into programmatic or operational areas.
Now, the local and global team vision is to consolidate the AccLab as an R&D (Research and Development) unit within UNDP. Please check out our global team leader, Gina Lucarelli’s latest Blog. By working within UNDP Colombia and its programs, we will generate the necessary research inputs and develop the tools, designs, and scaling of grassroots solutions to accelerate the closing of gaps and the path toward more equitable and sustainable development. While it is essential to experiment with the team structure and financial sustainability to ensure the success of this ambitious long-term project, we are confident that the AccLab will continue to be a driver of change and innovation within UNDP Colombia, contributing to building a smarter and more resilient future.